Jurors firm in guilty verdict

HOLLAND -- Deb Sleeman is haunted by the thought of what Janet Chandler endured during her rape and killing at the hands of several Wackenhut guards 28 years ago.

"The last thing I think about when I go to bed and the first thing when I wake up in the morning is what happened and what these men put Janet Chandler, her family and witnesses through," said Sleeman, one of 12 jurors who convicted Arthur Paiva, James Nelson, Freddie Parker and Anthony Williams of murder on Thursday.

Sitting on the jury for the nearly three-week trial often was an emotional experience for Sleeman. Tears filled her eyes as she left the jury box, mostly from the stress she felt deciding the fate of four men.

Sleeman has no doubt jurors made the right decision.

"They got to live an additional 28 years. It's heartwrenching because you can't forget what the Chandlers went through back in 1979," the 37-year-old Holland Township woman said.

Jurors made a distinction between Paiva of Muskegon and the other defendants, saying witnesses heard him make death threats toward Chandler.

"Some of the witness testimony led us to believe he had more of an intent, it was more planned for him and he was the ringleader," Sleeman said.

Jury foreman Thomas Foley, 38, of Grand Haven Township, believed all involved continued to be devoid of remorse.

"They all showed a lack of ethics and morals," Foley said. "Most people will never in their lives be anywhere close to something like this, and they lived it for all those years."

"I don't know how they did it. I can't imagine putting it away in a box."

Sleeman, a physical education teacher at Corpus Christi Center school, said the hardest part of the trial was viewing Chandler's autopsy photos, blown-up images showing the 22-year-old woman's face and red marks around her neck.

Sleeman wasn't prepared for the trial's graphic testimony and the story of jealousy, anger and apparent hatred.

"You hear of things like this, but you never imagine that it actually happened," Sleeman said. "To hear these witnesses giving their testimony was very difficult at times. Inside, it was killing me."

Sleeman believes evidence might exist to charge others in the killing. Names came up during testimony of others who allegedly had assaulted Chandler.

"We as jurors hope that the prosecutor will take the testimony of what was presented in court and continue to pursue this," she said.

"It was very obvious to us (Ruiz) was scared. She was very uncomfortable being in the courtroom," she said. "We had to take all that into consideration."

"These ladies, they had nothing to gain and a lot to lose by testifying," she said.

Foley said the 28-year time lapse likely clouded memories of the sordid event but, in the end, the truth bore out.

Foley said the jury had frank discussions about the case. There were no hold-outs who fought for a "not guilty" finding for any of the men, he said.

"It was a deliberate and complete process," Foley said. "No one took it lightly, and the attention to detail and the seriousness of it -- both by the jurors and by investigators -- led us to the decision."

That didn't make it any easier to send the men to prison for life, jurors said.

Sleeman saw Parker's sister and Paiva's family break down crying when the verdict was read. She has empathy.

"They had no idea this other life occurred with their father or brother 28 years ago until it all came out in the last year," she said.